of the
locations he had brought back data for had been discovered, but, to
his relief, not the underground duplicate Force Command Headquarters,
and not the spaceport on the island continent of Barathrum, to the
east. That was all right.

He went to the house-defense arms closet and found a 10-mm Navy
pistol, and a belt and spare clips. Making sure that the pistol and
magazines were loaded, he buckled it on. He debated getting a vehicle
out of the hangar on the landing stage, decided against it, and
started downtown on foot.

One of the first people he met was Len Yeniguchi, the tailor. He would
be at the meeting that afternoon. He managed, while talking, to
comment on the cut of Conn's suit, and finger the material.

"Ah, nice," he complimented. "Made on Terra? We don't see cloth like
that here very often."

He meant it wasn't Armed Forces salvage.

"Father ought to be around to see you with a bolt of material, to have
a suit made," he said. "For Ghu's sake, either talk him into having a
short jacket like this, or get him to buy himself a shoulder holster.
He's ruined every coat he ever owned, carrying a gun on his hip."

A little farther on, he came to a combat car grounded in the middle of
the street. It was green, with black trimmings, and lettered in black,
GORDON VALLEY HOME GUARD. Tom Brangwyn was standing beside
it, talking to a young man in a green uniform.

"Hello, Conn." The town marshal looked at his hip and grinned. "See
you got all your clothes on this morning. You were just plain
indecent, yesterday.... You know Fred Karski, don't you?"

Yes, now that Tom mentioned it, he did. He and Fred had gone to school
together at the Litchfield Academy. But the six years since they'd
seen each other last had made a lot of difference in both of them. He
was beginning to think that the only strangers in Litchfield were his
own contemporaries. They shook hands, and Conn looked at the combat
car and Fred Karski's uniform.

"What's going on?" he asked. "The System States Alliance to business
again?"

Karski laughed. "Oh, that's the Colonel's idea. Green and black were
his colors in the War, and he's in command of the regiment."

"Regiment? You need a whole regiment?" Conn asked.

"Well, it's two companies, each about the size of a regular army
platoon, but we have to call it a regiment so he can keep his old
Rebel Army rank."

"We could use a regiment, Conn," Tom Brangwyn said seriously. "You
have no id